Bathroom Build – Southampton, PA
This Southampton bathroom was built from the ground up in a basement space — walls, water lines, drains, and electricity all new. The shower base is custom with black hexagon tile; the shower walls are large-format tile. Recessed lighting in both the main bathroom and the shower. An interior door was installed as part of the scope. New exhaust fan with built-in light.
Scope of Work
- Wall framing for new basement bathroom
- Full plumbing rough-in — water supply lines and drain installation
- Electrical rough-in for lighting, exhaust fan, and outlets
- Custom shower base
- Black hexagon tile on the shower floor
- Large-format tile on shower walls
- New shower faucet and shower door
- New vanity with vanity lighting
- New toilet
- New interior door
- Recessed lighting in bathroom and shower areas
- Exhaust fan with built-in light
What Building a Basement Bathroom Requires
Adding a bathroom to a basement is one of the more complex residential plumbing projects because of the drainage challenge. Every other bathroom in a house drains by gravity — the fixtures are above the main drain stack and waste flows downward. A basement bathroom is at or below the level of the main sewer line, which means the drainage may not work by gravity alone.
There are two approaches: if the existing sewer line exits the house at a depth that allows gravity drainage from the basement fixtures, a standard rough-in works. If the fixtures are below the sewer exit point — which is common in basement installations — the drain has to be tied into an ejector pit with a sewage ejector pump that forces waste upward to meet the main line. In either case, the basement floor often has to be opened to install drain lines at the correct depth and slope. This has no equivalent in an above-grade bathroom remodel.
For supply, new lines are run from the home’s existing supply to the basement location, insulated properly for a basement environment where temperatures can fluctuate seasonally.
Black Hexagon Tile on the Shower Floor
The shower floor is black hexagon tile — a small-format mosaic in a hexagonal pattern. This choice serves two purposes. First, a hexagon tile provides more grout lines per square foot than standard tile, giving the shower floor better traction than large-format alternatives — the grout lines create texture underfoot on a wet surface. Second, black tile on the shower floor reads as a deliberate material contrast against the large-format tile used on the shower walls, visually anchoring the shower base.
Laying hexagon tile on a shower floor requires setting each small tile on a properly waterproofed and consistently sloped substrate — the floor has to drain correctly to the center drain, and the slope has to be uniform across the entire shower area. This is more exacting work than setting large-format floor tile because the small format reveals any inconsistency in the substrate slope or adhesive bed.
Large-Format Tile on the Shower Walls
Large-format tile on the shower walls creates a clean, minimal surface with few grout lines — the visual opposite of the mosaic hexagon floor. The contrast between the two tile formats is the design logic of this shower: textured and detailed at the floor, smooth and continuous at the walls. Large-format shower wall tile requires a flat, solid substrate — cement board on properly framed studs — and careful layout planning so the tiles align symmetrically on each wall with consistent cuts at the edges.
Interior Door Installation
A new interior door was installed as part of the bathroom build scope. In a basement bathroom built from scratch, the door is part of the room definition — you cannot have a bathroom without a door that provides privacy and separates the space from the adjacent basement area. The door and its frame are installed after the walls are framed and before the finish work begins, and they have to be plumb and square to swing and latch correctly. Installing a door in a new basement framing situation — where the floor may not be perfectly level — requires careful shimming and adjustment.
Recessed Lighting and Exhaust Fan with Light
Recessed lights were installed in both the main bathroom area and the shower. In a basement, recessed lighting has a practical advantage beyond aesthetics: it provides even illumination without pendant fixtures that could be damaged by low overhead clearance in some basement configurations. The exhaust fan includes a built-in light, which serves double duty — ventilation and lighting from a single ceiling-mounted unit. In a basement bathroom where ceiling space may be limited by mechanical runs or structural elements, combining functions in one fixture is efficient.
Bathroom Builds in Southampton and Bucks County
Southampton is a Bucks County community in Upper Southampton Township with significant residential development from the post-war period through the 1980s. Adding a bathroom to an unfinished basement is a common project in homes from this era — the basement square footage exists, the home’s systems are accessible from below, and a finished basement bathroom adds functional space without requiring an exterior addition. Belmax Remodeling works throughout Southampton and the broader Bucks County area. For more on our bathroom work, see our bathroom remodeling service page. Homeowners in Southampton can also visit our Southampton service area page for more completed local projects.
Considering a Similar Project?
Ground-up basement bathroom builds in the 50-square-foot range — including framing, full plumbing rough-in, electrical, custom tile shower, vanity, toilet, door, and recessed lighting — typically fall in the $11,000–$16,000 range in Bucks County. This Southampton project came in at $12,800, completed May 2021. To discuss what your project would involve, request a free estimate.